Charlotte reads aloud

During grand-daughter Charlotte's recent weekend with us, I observed her practising what we used to call 'pre-reading' activities. (God knows what this is called now, given the speed with which educational jargon comes and goes.)

Charlotte loves to put things into containers, then get them out again. And she will happily do this for long periods. On this visit I gave her a set of my discarded plant labels, and put them into a little straw handbag. At first she simply loaded and unloaded the labels from bag to table, doing this over and over. And she walked around with the handbag on her arm, in a distinctively queenly manner.

 

Then later in the day, she sat down with the bag, and took out the labels one by one. Each label has a photo on one side, and a written description of the plant on the other side. She studied each label intently, looking at both sides, and 'babbled' some sing-song sounds while doing so.

 

Charlotte has clearly learned that printed matter contains a message of some sort, even though she probably doesn't yet distinguish text from photos. No doubt this is a result of her early exposure to books, and to having stories read to her, both at home and at childcare.
 

Now, at 18 months, she is well on her way to being a reader herself.

But intellectual exercise is very hard work. And so a girl needs a break for afternoon tea.